Why So Many U.S. Christians Sought the Ten Lost Tribes among Native Americans

From Columbus’s voyage until the second half of the 19th century, so many different writers developed arguments that the Native Americans were descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel—sent into exile by the Assyrians in the 8th century BCE—that modern scholars have come up with the term “Hebraic Indian theory” to describe the genre. Elizabeth Fenton, an expert on the subject, discusses these theories and what they signify about America’s perception of itself with Nachi Weinstein, while also addressing their Mormon corollary, the “hollow-earth” hypothesis, and more. (Audio, 69 minutes.)